Configuring activity templates

An activity is a record of communication with a client. This includes schedule items, activity plans, tasks, documents, emails, and call records. Activities are also known as interactions. You can configure activity templates from the Document Codes page. You can also configure badges for activities.

Use activity templates to define specific types of tasks, schedule items, and call records in NexJ CRM. For example, to create a reminder to follow up with a client, users add the Follow Up task in the My Tasks tab in the Home workspace. NexJ CRM uses the Follow Up activity template to create the task.

 A call record is an internal record documenting an interaction with a contact or lead.

To configure an activity template, specify the details, attachments, and statuses for the activity that the template creates. Activity templates also predefine relevant information for activities. For example, to configure the Site Tour schedule item to include a non-disclosure agreement that attendees fill our at the beginning of the tour, add the agreement as an attachment to the Site Tour activity template.

Configure activity templates in the Activity Templates tab on the Document Codes page.

Adding activity templates

Add activity templates to create new types of tasks, schedule items, and call records for NexJ CRM.

An itinerary item is a scheduled time slot that represents activities that support an event, other than event meetings, for example, travel arrangements for flight and hotel reservations.

To add an activity template:

1. Navigate to the Document Codes page.
2. In the Activity Templates tab, click the Add button 

   

   , and select a type of activity for the template: Schedule Item, Task, Call Record, Event Meeting, Itinerary Item, and Event Meeting Feedback. The Add Template dialog opens.

3. Complete the fields on the Details, Attachments, Statuses, and Outcomes tabs, as desired.

   

   A red asterisk indicates required fields.

   

   If you are adding an activity template for an event itinerary item, you can select a service provider category. If a service provider category is selected, then, when a user adds that itinerary item to an event, the list of service providers they see will be limited to only service providers in that category. You can create additional service provider categories on the Categories tab of the Entity Codes page.

4. Click OK.

A new activity template appears in the list on the left of the Activity Template tab on the Document Codes page. If Active is selected, the activity is now available in NexJ CRM.

Modifying activity templates

Modify activity templates to make changes to template details, attachments, and statuses.

After you create an activity template in NexJ Admin Console, you can make changes in the template's Details, Attachments, and Statuses tabs.

Editing details for activity templates

Edit details for activity templates to change template properties such as the name and security settings.

To edit an activity template's details:

1. Navigate to the Document Codes page.
2. In the Activity Templates tab, select the template to edit. The template's details display in the Details subtab.
3. Click the Edit button 

   

   . The Edit Template dialog opens.

4. Make your desired changes to the template.
   

   

   A red asterisk indicates required fields.

5. Click OK. The Edit Template dialog closes.

The activity template's details are modified. If Active is selected, the modified activity is now available in NexJ CRM.

Changes to a template apply only to new activities. Existing activities in NexJ CRM are not modified.

Managing attachments for activity templates

Add and delete attachments for activity templates to manage which documents and images are associated with activities that the template creates. After a user creates an activity in NexJ CRM, attachments from the template are available to users who open the activity.

Before you can attach a specific document to an activity template, you must add the document to Document Manager in NexJ CRM. For more information about using Document Manager, see Managing your documents.

To manage an activity template's attachments:

1. Navigate to the Document Codes page.

2. In the Activity Templates tab, select the template in which to add or remove attachments. The selected activity template's details display in the Details subtab.
3. In the Attachments subtab, you can do the following:
   
   • To add an attachment, in the Document Manager Items area, click the Select button 

     

     . In the Select Document dialog, select the document to attach, then click OK.
   • To delete an attachment, in the Document Manager Items area, click the Action button 

     

      for the attachment that you want to delete, then select Delete. In the confirmation dialog, click Delete.

The document and its related attachments are added to the activity template.

Modifying statuses for activity templates

Add and remove statuses for activity templates to specify the stages through which activities progress. When you modify the statuses for an activity template, you configure what statuses are available and which status is the default. For example, the template for the Follow Up task has the statuses Cancelled, Completed, On Hold, Outstanding, and Tentative. The default status is Outstanding, which means that new Follow Up tasks are set to Outstanding when they are created. As users complete the task, they choose from the statuses to indicate their progress.

To modify an activity template's statuses:

1. Navigate to the Document Codes page.
2. In the Activity Templates tab, select the template in which to modify statuses.
3. Select the Statuses subtab.
4. To modify the available statuses for the template:
   1. In the Status area, click the Select button 

      

      . The Select Statuses dialog opens.
   2. Do one of the following:
      • To add statuses to the template, in the list on the left side of the dialog, select one or more statuses, then click Add. The statuses are added to the list on the right side of the dialog.

      • To remove statuses from the template, in the list on the right side of the dialog, select one or more statuses, then click Remove. The statuses are removed from the list on the right side of the dialog.

        

        The Completed status is required and cannot be removed.

   3. Click OK. The Select Statuses dialog closes.
5. To modify the default status for the template:
   1. In the Default Status field, click the Select button 

      

      . The Select Default Status dialog opens.
   2. Select a status to use as the default, then click OK. The Select Default Status dialog closes. 

The activity template's statuses and default status are modified.

Deleting activity templates

Delete activity templates to permanently remove the template from NexJ Admin Console and NexJ CRM.

You can only delete an activity template if is has not yet been used to create an activity in NexJ CRM. To make a template unavailable for use without deleting it, deactivate the template by editing it and clearing the Active checkbox.

To delete an activity template:

1. Navigate to the Document Codes page.

2. In the Activity Templates tab, click the Action button 

   

    for the template you want to delete, then click the Delete button 

   

   .
   

The activity template is deleted.

Activity template fields

In addition to basic fields such as Name and Description, each activity template contains additional fields that depend on the template type. For example, the Notes field is present in Call Record, Schedule Item, and Task templates, but the Default Start Time field is in only Schedule Item templates. The following table describes each activity template field and indicates the templates that use it.

Fields available in activity templates